Fort Girardeau

Once the Civil War broke out, the cities of the border states came into play, nowhere more than in Missouri. The major cities were fortified and the populations - of St. Louis and elsewhere - were put under marshal law.

In connection with my interest in the River War, I checked out Cape Girardeau, where the Federals moved to secure the city with a system of forts - Forts A, B, C, and D - and batteries called Fort Girardeau. Fort D, the principal fort and the only one remaining, is on high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, some miles upriver from the convergence with the Ohio River at Cairo. It has a commanding view of the Missisippi and the new bridge over the river (the handsome Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge) is a little upstream.



Today's Fort D is located in a poor part of town, maintained by the city and the American Legion. A stone fort at the center of the site and stone gates were built in the 1930's by the WPA.










Some the earthworks remain.

They appear to be as originally sited, although evidently they were reestablished by the WPA.












I did find pieces of what could be the old stone fortifications, with no identifying markers, on the north side of the site


The town fathers of Cape Girardeau seems to position the place as a John Wesley Powell site, which I guess makes sense, as indicated in their website:


"In the summer of 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War, four forts were built around the strategic city of Cape Girardeau on the orders of General John Frèmont. Fort D was designed by German-American engineers from St. Louis. The forts were built by soldiers of the 20th Illinois Infantry, Bissell's Engineers of the West and local militia under the direction of Illinois Lt. John Wesley Powell. Powell, who would later gain fame as the explorer of the Grand Canyon, was detached from his regiment by a newly appointed general... Ulysses S. Grant, in order to raise a local company to man the forts. This Powell did, and his new Battery F served the forts until leaving for the Battle of Shiloh. Fort D featured as many as five cannons, the largest of which could fire a 32-pound cannon ball. The fort was manned throughout the Civil War. Of the four earthen forts only Fort D still exists, an intact survivor thanks to civic action in the 1930's..."

My own take is that Fort D is one of the last surviving examples of Civil War fortifications in Missouri. It is not grand, and its most immediate overlook is a big trashyard between it and the river. But if the trash and the views to the new bridge were cleared, it would be an amazing site.

Dragons

Back in the old days of US v. USSR I used to wonder if it was their economic failures, alone, that made the difference. The sensibility - kind of articulated by an old Robin Williams vehicle, "Moscow on the Hudson" - was that the real failure of the USSR was its failure to deliver consumer goods. There was political and artistic repression, to be sure. But since Khrushchev, the people had found ways to read Ayn Rand and listen to Charlie Parker. The real problems were that they had to stand in line for bread and couldn't buy blue jeans.

Which took me to the next question, and I asked it many times: what if the communists learned how to make economics work? Would that ensure the triumph of the left?

The USSR didn't figure it out, of course. But has China? Has its ability to deliver goods, jobs, infrastructure, et cetera overwhelmed the public desire for a free plebiscite once in a while?

I think the answer is yes.

But that doesn't mean that China will sail bumplessly into the future. They have too much history of political violence. I think the violence, when it comes, will not be because people want a vote and a free press. The impelling forces will be darker - maybe nationalism, Han racism, regionalism - than a democratic instinct. I think - although I have no proof - that the bourgeois democrats have been bought off, and others will make the next revolution against the emperor.

This Man's Best Friend



It's been cold, New Hampshire cold, here in St. Louis and I think Valerie has needed the sweater. She is not completely convinced. But it seems to add a spring to her step - OK, this is his idea of fashion, I'll make the best of it.